Is it Oscar Night already? Didn’t this used to be at the end
of the month? *sigh* I don’t who reads this, or if anyone cares, but if you’re
wondering why I do this, it is mostly for me. I started this right before being
enlisted for the Dark Discussions Podcast, and that’s really been where I get
to say my piece on things. It kinda takes the motivation for writing out of me.
But I would like to be able to look back and see what I was thinking, and these
really have been helpful for me with the podcast. So if you’re reading this and
enjoying it, that’s great, and thank you. If not… well, ok.
By most accounts, this has been a pretty stellar year for
films. The 9 Oscar nominees are solid, and many could have won in past years with
relative ease. We have films from different genres, with big names, and big box
office. I mean, I love The Shape of Water, but I can’t help thinking a movie
about a maid having sex with the Gill-Man winning the Academy Award for Best
Picture is going to puzzle film historians in a few decades. Or even Thursday.
Sure, Little Women probably deserved a nomination, and Uncut Gems
and Midsommar too, but that’s a fight for other people. I’m just glad
there were so many good films out there.
The same holds true for most people about genre pics. I’ve
said before, I’ll say again – we’re in a new Golden Age for horror films. Their
success at the box office, in-theater entertainment value, plus the plethora of
indie films and venues to stream just has opened up flood gates for the genre. Sure,
there’s a ton of crap out there, which, I’m glad to say, I have mostly avoided,
but no one sets out to make a bad film (well, maybe Asylum and SyFy). It is
almost always a convergence of talent and serendipity that makes a classic film;
it is almost impossible to do on demand. By having a wide open market of hundreds
or thousands of movies, the odds of striking gold increases. The last few years
have born that out.
That said, I found this year a bit disappointing in the genre,
and so have my co-hosts. We do consider ourselves a diverse quintet of middle-class
white people from the northeastern US, but every now and then our opinions
converge in a way that runs contrary to the mainstream. This year, we were kind
of down on the selection of films. For me, I know my viewing was down - 85 films compared to 99 in 2018 – which, when
you add in the various tv series I’ve binge-watched is still an insane amount of
entertainment hours – but I don’t know that I had any huge gaps in my genre
viewing. When sorting out my list on
Letterboxd, I was surprised just how deep the selections ran, and how hard it
was to get a top 20. It may have been the deepest year in the 8 we’ve been
doing the podcast, but really there weren’t many films that truly “spoke to me”
the way The Ritual, Hereditary, and Mom and Dad did last
year.
If anyone is interested in my complete list you can check
out my Letterboxd lists:
Other genre films: https://letterboxd.com/michael_darwin/list/2019-films-non-horror/
(Please keep in mind the rankings are entirely subjective
according to how I felt the last time I looked at it. Today, they would
probably be different).
If you want to hear the thoughts of the whole Dark Discussions
crew, you can find them here in a few days: http://darkdiscussions.com/Pages/podcasts.html
So, without further ado, here’s my award winners for 2019:
Favorite Film of 2019: Once Upon a Time in Hollywood.
Favorite Horror Film: Midsommar Long and slow and
predictable, but it held my attention throughout. Just a beautifully crafted
film, and it proves that Ari Aster is no fluke.
Runner Up: Tumbbad An Indian
horror film that slides into the “folk tale” subgenre. A lesson in the dangers
of greed, it has some real pants-soiling moments. It might be a bit inscrutable
at first, but stick with it and everything will be explained.
Another Runner Up: Tigers Are
Not Afraid Is this a horror film? Not sure. Certainly has elements. Part
horror, part fantasy, part drama, this tale of a group of children orphaned by
the drug wars in Mexico is one of the most imaginative films of the year.
Favorite Science Fiction Film: Freaks Released very briefly
into theaters, this is a solid film that will likely appeal to classic X-Men
fans as well.
Favorite Comic Book Film: Joker To be honest I’m
tired of “serious takes” on comic-book movies that take the comic-book elements
out of the films, but this ended up so much better than I expected. Endgame
was solid, but a little bit of step down from Infinity War.
Runner Up: Avengers Endgame
Favorite Action Film: John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum
The weakest entry of the series, but still the best action film of the year. Let’s
hope they can stick the landing with Chapter 4.
Favorite Comedy: Jojo Rabbit Yeah a feel good coming
of age film about a Hitler Youth with the Fuhrer himself as his imaginary playmate. Yeah,
it gets dark, and its hard to peg it as a straight comedy, but I damn well want
to recognize it for something.
Runner
Up: Parasite We at Dark Discussions have loved Bong-Joon Ho for years. I still
think Snowpiercer is my favorite of his, but this dark satire deserves
its accolades.
Favorite Zombie Film: Little Monsters
Favorite Stephen King Film: Doctor Sleep
Favorite Horror Comedy: Ready or Not (Runner Up: Satanic
Panic)
Favorite Post-Modern Slasher: The Furies
Favorite Religious Horror: The Golem
Favorite Creature Feature: Sweetheart
Favorite Horror Remake: Child’s Play
Favorite New Potential Franchise: Knives Out (Runner Up:
Brightburn)
Worst Movie: Cats
Runner
Up: No, still Cats
Single Creepiest Anything Horror I Saw This Year: "The Head in the House", Creepshow episode 1.
Best Title in History of Cinema:
Hero of the Year: Sam Waterson, The Man Who Killed Hitler
and Then the Bigfoot
Runner
Up: Fat Thor
Villain of the Year: Children. Seriously. The Golem.
Freaks. Eli. Ready or Not. Satanic Panic. Hole in the Ground. Satanic Panic.
The Prodigy. Murderous little bastards were everywhere.
Scream Queen of the Year: Samara Weaving (Ready or Not)
Best Ending: In a year in which many thought Game of
Thrones and Star Wars shit the bed, massive accolades to Marvel Studios
for sticking the super-hero landing in Avengers Endgame.
Runner
Up: Eli It takes a lot to surprise me. This did, and I was on
guard for it.
Worst Ending: Suspiria
Kill of the Year: The axe to the face in The Furies.
Runner Up: Dropping Uncle Badger (Brightburn)
Best Horror Scene Outside a Horror Movie: Jojo meets a Jew (Jojo Rabbit)
Most Disturbing: The dogs (Chernobyl).
Most Uncomfortable Moment: Dad having "the talk" with Brandon. Seriously, has this ever gone well? (Brightburn)
Runner Up: Old lady giving Chris a push (Midsommar)
Best Monsters: Hellboy
Most Fabulous Costume Ever: Sam Rockwell (Jojo Rabbit)
Deserved Better: Doctor Sleep
Most Sleep Inducing: Ad Astra
Cameo of the Year: What We Do In the Shadows episode 7 "The Trial." No one was shocked that the cast of the already-classic 2014 film appeared in the FX spinoff series, but adjudicating the murder of a master vampire requires a truly elite jury. Over a half dozen more familiar faces join the original trio to pass sentence on our hapless heroes. Don't spoil it before you watch it.
Career Boost: Lupita Nyong’o, Us, Little Monsters
Career Block: Anyone who had anything to do with this:
Biggest Surprise: Quality superhero TV- Watchmen, The
Boys, Umbrella Academy, Doom Patrol
Biggest Disappointment: It Chapter Two
Didn’t See That Coming: Baby Yoda
Time To Put It Down: Terminator franchise.
Best Movie That I Didn’t Like: The Lighthouse Robert
Egger’s follow up to The Witch is impeccably crafted, but the thin
narrative didn’t work for me.
Best Movies That I Probably Won’t Ever See: Marriage
Story and Little Women.
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